When the driver mistakenly shifts a gear into a reverse range (i.e., an R-range) instead a drive range (i.e., a D-range), the vehicle may accelerate in the reverse direction. As a result the vehicle may come in contact with an object, such as another vehicle, since the driver was not prepared to travel in the reverse direction.
To prevent such a situation, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H06-276603 (JP '603) discloses that, if the driver operates the accelerator pedal by an amount exceeding a preset threshold after shifting to the R range, a detection apparatus detects such operation as a shift mistake, and prevents a sudden acceleration of the vehicle in the reverse direction by restricting the vehicle's drive power.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H06-299880 (JP '880) discloses that, when (1) a first set time has passed from releasing a brake pedal step operation, (2) a second set time has not passed from a shift operation, and (3) either an accelerator operation amount or an accelerator operation speed is equal to or greater than a threshold, the situation is determined as a mis-operation of an accelerator pedal, and an operation of an internal combustion engine is controlled to prohibit a travel of the vehicle.
In JP '603, if the driver operates the accelerator pedal by an amount exceeding a preset threshold after shifting to the R-range, the detection apparatus detects such operation as a shift mistake. However, in such shift mistake detection scheme, even when the vehicle has to go over a bump or a difference just after starting from a stop condition by increasing a vehicle driving torque, the detection apparatus automatically detects a large amount (i.e., an over-threshold amount) of accelerator pedal operation by the driver according to his/her intention to increase the vehicle driving torque, and mis-determines that such a large amount of accelerator pedal operation is a shift mistake of the driver, leading to a restriction on the vehicle driving torque.
Further, the technique of JP '880 can simply detect a mistake of an accelerator pedal operation by the driver who has mistaken the accelerator pedal for the brake pedal, without detecting a shift mistake.